On 2017.

I don’t want to be one of the people groaning about 2016 because anyone able to read this was already there. There’s a lot to be worried about in 2017, but I don’t want to live in negativity (today, at least). I wanted to take some time to go over what my biggest failures were last year, but also some successes, as well as look forward to the coming year. And it’s only January Fifth, so the no-more-procrastination thing is going great!

2016

My first big success this year was honestly my blog until I fucked up and (somehow?) got it deleted. Oops. Even though I wasn’t doing the weekly posting that I wanted, I’m still happy for the monthly posts I’d been doing for most of the year. I’m hoping 2017 will be an even larger improvement. I also want to get several failsafes set up as far as website/ wordpress backups go so I don’t have to go through that again. Luckily, I realized recently that because of the Medium plugin I’ve got most of the posts I’d made last year saved somewhere (just not here).

Another success this year was finally getting out of debt. Most of this success was due to other people but I’m still taking it as a ‘win’ since I’m the one positively affected here, ok?

2016 was a hermit’s year for me. I spend most of my time alone / at home. For the first half of the year I let ‘life’ be an excuse. My friends are scattering out further than ever, my finances were oppressive, and I was working a job that had not met it’s promised expectations, yet was taking more of my time than any other. But even then I knew that I was putting myself into a box. By the end of the year I was allowing myself to fall into a lackluster rhythm.

2017

Luckily, I still had enough successes last year to power my forward momentum through time-space. Here are some of my goals this year:

One important step this year is getting a new car. Now that I don’t have massive amount of credit debt, I can afford a monthly payment. My current car is the result of an accident that totaled my first car (and fyi, I’m still salty about it). This current car will not make it to LA, not this year and certainly not next year. And it certainly won’t keep me getting around once I am there. Once I get a new car, I need to be better about taking care of it. My current car is beat the fuck up because I’ve been salty about it’s existence. That’s a really bad excuse but it’s a piece of shit.

Which brings me to my next point: LA. I need to save some money. I can’t guarantee that I’ll have a job once I get there, or that I’ll be able to afford anything. I’m going to need at least something to buffer some time once I’m there, let alone deposits, rent, furniture, etc. 2017 is my year of planning, and I don’t care how Capricorn Aye Eff that sounds.

Pretty much all of these goals have been puzzle pieces to the larger endgame, living and working in LA, but they haven’t really addressed what I want to do once I’m there, which is really anything creative. So this year also needs to be the year of a budget portfolio. I need to hone and display my skills, something I’ve always been awkward and just plain bad about doing. That’s the main reason I’ve purchased jacobramsdell.com: to start a portfolio.

One of the ways I’m planning to go about filling said portfolio is to work on a few projects that I’ll be starting this year. There will be more on this later.

Additionally, I need to start networking, even here in DC. Not just to meet people but to learn things. I’m taking January / February to figure this out. But it’s not just about meeting new people, I need to be better invested in the friends I already have, because in 2016 I was a shitty, absent friend. I don’t want to blame this on introversion/ INFP either. I can do better.

Lastly, and this is pretty generic, I need to get fit. I can’t keep doing this whole being uncomfortable in my own body and binging thing. It ain’t cute, and it doesn’t feel good, and I want to parkour and stuff like a masked vigilante. So I’m making a very doable goal, starting today, of 1-3 pounds a week for the next six months. Clearly, I’m leaving some wiggle room. Some jiggle room, if you will. I don’t want to pretend that I’m going to be hitting 3 pounds every week, but I am hoping on a healthy 2 pounds average. But I’m also realistic enough to know that some weeks I’ll lose 1, 0, or -10 pounds.

Let’s review:

I’ll update this list throughout the year with new blog posts on my progress. That’s an easy way to keep pushing content, right?

New Car.

Saving Money.

Portfolio / Projects.

Life / Events / Introversion.

Get Fit (1 – 3 pounds a week, for six months).

Also, some wants:

Even though I’m trying to save money and pay for a car and get out of the house and do things, I still really want a new computer. I’ve been eyeing the Microsoft Surface Book with Performance Base because the MacBooks have been disappointing lately. I’m worried that if I don’t get a new computer now, when the time comes that I really need it I won’t be able to. I know that’s lame reasoning, but I’m the king of bad decisions. But also the king of good advice and yet I don’t really know what to tell myself. So I’m making this deal with myself: I’m at least going to wait until a new Surface Book comes out later this year.

That’s about it, for now. Sorry there were no stories or morals in this post. How boring for you!